Founding year: the first Lisbon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lisbon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lisbon is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lisbon’s overall grade.
North Dakota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical North Dakota town has 2.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lisbon’s 22.1 sits above most of its state (79% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Lisbon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lisbon was founded in 1880 by Joseph L. Colton, who named the new city after Lisbon, New York, his wife's hometown, not after Portugal's capital. Within four years, the town had a newspaper, the Star.
The campus of the North Dakota Veterans Home, established in 1891, provides retirement living for military veterans. Construction is underway for a large new facility adjacent to the current one.
Downtown Lisbon is home to the Scenic movie theater, which was established in 1911. The Scenic is the oldest, continuously running theater in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the theater remained open by providing outdoor showings.
The Lisbon post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lisbon rank for history?
Lisbon is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Lisbon?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Lisbon Opera House (listed 1979, the first), and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in Lisbon?
29% of Lisbon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1968.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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